Russia has been into a war of its own to un-recruit ISIS followers and protecting them from the sneaky ways the terrorists use to attract young people. The Daily Beast focused on the uphill battle trying to save young jihadis from themselves. Though Centers for Countering Extremism in Russia know their job well, well-known for their skills and filled with senior experts, but there are days when they face a "black wall," and lose their fight against the international recruitment of Russian citizens to join the jihad of the so-called Islamic State. Hundreds of young men and women are leaving Dagestan these days to join the jihadist wars. Others are inspired to attack in other venues.Most of the men and women interviewed each day by the centers say they are determined to die for their beliefs. The "insane propaganda" on the Internet is the main source of information for the recruitment strategy of the so-called Islamic State. Instructions tell them where to go and how to get the money for the trip. Some recruiters were local—Special Services had arrested at least two of them in the past two years, but that didn't make a dent. Young Russian Muslims watched videos of ISIS leaders and sheikhs calling to join the holy war. The travel package for a recruited Russian included an air ticket, $500 of pocket money and a backpack with T-shirts, socks and other basic needs. "This is not just a popular trend, this is a lifestyle. Many in the Muslim community live day and night with the idea of joining the war, not for the sake of money but for pure hope to live for once in Sharia World. Recruiters say that the entire Muslim world has to be involved in the war now," experts said. Male recruits are not the only ones who are leaving Russia. Women take off to join ISIS, too. It is one of centers' priorities to prevent widows of local insurgents from taking extreme actions against themselves or others, she said. Nobody in ISIS has "zombified" the young Russian citizens, nobody offered them money: "On the contrary, insurgencies often recruit well-educated youths from wealthy, intelligent families," say the experts. If militants are ready to surrender and return home they know where to call or the centers. Wealthy young Muslims sell their cars and take their families' savings—thousands of Euros—to contribute to the ISIS war. What would be the best way for Russian authorities to prevent young citizens from joining the jihadist war? "Change the methods," says Magomed Shamilov, a human rights defender and observer of conditions in Dagestan's prisons for the Russian Public Chamber. "Violent pressure by state law enforcement agencies, overwhelming corruption in government and in police leadership, the torture and humiliation of detainees: these push our Muslim youth to escape the country or join the militant insurgency in Dagestan." "We have unique experience," he said. "We are a bridge between the Islamic circles and the authorities." But it is a fragile span across a very wide abyss.
